Apparatus for handling lumber or laths



No. 750,775. PATENTED JAN. 26, 1904. W. A. MARSHALL. APPARATUS FOR HANDLING LUMBER OR LATHS. APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 12,1903. N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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W. A. MARSHALL. APPARATUS FOR HANDLING LUMBER 0R LATHS.

APPLICATION FILED $EPT.12,1903. NO MODEL. 3 SHEETS3HEET 2.

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PATENTED JAN. 26, 1904.

W. A. MARSHALL. APPARATUS FOR HANDLING LUMBER 0R LATHS APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12,1908.

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UNITED STATES Patented January 26,- 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING LUMBER OR LATHS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 750,775, dated January 26, 1904.

Application filed September 12, 1903. Serial No. 173,005. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, XVILLIAM A. MARsHALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at l/Vashburn, in the county of Bayfield and State of Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Handling Lumber or Laths, of which the following is a specification.

Lumber in its natural condition when prepared for the market is liable to stain paint, plastering, and other covering applied thereto in building operations, and to obviate this feature it is a common practice to subject the lumber to an alkaline or other bath for neutralizing the sap or other substance contained therein which produces the stain. This operation is usually effected by hand and is both tedious and undesirable by reason of the splashing of the solution upon the operator and keeping the place in a wet condition.

This invention provides a mechanism for automatically supplying the lumber or like material to the bath, removing it therefrom, and discharging the same without necessitating handling of the material.

The invention comprises a tank for containing the solution or alkaline bath, an endless conveyer for feeding the lumber or like material to the tank for immersion in the bath, an elevator for lifting the material from the bath, and means for effecting a discharge of the material after being treated.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction of the means for effecting the result reference is to be had to the following description and drawings hereto attached.

WVhile the essential and characteristic features of the invention are susceptible of modification, still the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a machine embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, a portion of the tank being broken away and the stripper being in section. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line X X of Fig. 1, intermediate portions of the horizontal conveyers being broken away. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the drum and lower portion of the elevator cooperating therewith on a larger scale.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

The machine illustrated is adapted for both planks and boards and laths or like material placed upon the market in bundles. The tank for containing the alkaline bath or other solution is indicated at 1 and may be of any capacity, according to the length of material to be immersed therein. As shown, one end portion of the tank is provided with mechanism for handling planks, boards, and like lumber, and the opposite end portion is provided with mechanism for handling laths or like material generally placed upon the market in the form of bundles.

The lumber-handling mechanism is shown most clearly in Figs. 3 and L and at the upper portion of Fig. 1 and comprises horizontal conveyers 2 and 8 of any determinate length, as about one hundred feet, to admit of assorting the lumber both in transit to the bath and after immersion in the solution provided for treating the lumber. The conveyers 2 and 3 may be of any structural type and comprise endless chains or belts mounted upon rollers or like supports, so as to sustain the load and insure safe delivery of the material either to or from the machine. Adjacent to the tank 1 and intermediate of it and the conveyer 2 is a conveyer t, inclined to thehorizontal and having its receiving end in a lower plane than the delivery end of the conveyer 2 and its delivery end adjacent to a chute 5, upon which the material slides into the tank when received thereon from the conveyer 4. A chute 6 is interposed between the delivery end of the conveyer 2 and the receiving end of the conveyer at, and the lumber or material is taken therefrom by arms 7 projected from the endless belts forming the moving portion of the conveyer l. The arms 7 may be flights of any character, so long as they engage with and serve to carry forward the material in successive and proper order.

A drum 8 is located within the tank 1 and is provided with arms or flights 9 of any formation and spaced apart a distance corresponding to the distance between the arms or flights 7 of the conveyer 1. The drum 8 is rotated in the direction of the arrow indicated in Fig. 3, and its arms or flights 9 engage with the lumber or material and force the same downward into and through the solution and into position to be taken up by the elevator 10, which in construction may be of similar formation to the conveyers 2, 3, or 4. A guard 11 of concave form is arranged within the tanks intermediate of the delivery end of the chute 5 and receiving end of the elevator 10 and is concentric with the axis of the drum 8 and is spaced therefrom a distance 'to insure the lumber or material being swept thereover by the arms or flights 9 of said drum. This guard 11 may be of any type of construction, so long as it serves, in conjunction with the arms or flights 9, to insure delivery of the material to the elevator 10. Astripper 12 is interposed between the delivery end of the elevator 10 and the receiving end of the conveyer 3 and is somewhat similar in construction to the chutes 5 and 6 and serves to insure safe delivery of the material upon the conveyer 3 and prevent its sticking upon the elevator and returning to the tank or dropping in front of the conveyer 3.

The elements 13 and 1a are ways for directing the lumber or material from any required point to the conveyer 2. The several operating parts are connected by suitable gearing, substantially as shown in Fig. 1, for operation, the direction of travel of the parts being indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3. Lumber or material fed upon the conveyer 2 is advanced thereby to the chute 6 and is taken up therefrom by the arms or flights 7 of the conveyer 1 and moved to the chute 5, which directs it into the tank 1, the arms or flights 9 insuring immersion of the material in the bath. The elevator 10 removes the material from the bath and delivers it to the conveyer 3, which carries it away from the apparatus to the-required point of discharge. The parts are so related that the arms or flights 9 of the drum 8 do not obstruct the entrance of the material into the tank when discharged from the conveyer at.

The mechanism for handling laths or like material in bundles comprises conveyer 15, chute 16, and elevators 17 and 18. The parts 15, 17, and 18 are of similar formation, comprising endless chains or belts and hookshaped arms 19, so as to receive the bundles 20 of laths or like material. A circular saw 21 is arranged at each side of the conveyer 15 for the purpose of trimming the ends of the bundles 20, so as to have the laths or material of uniform length. These trimmers 21 may be disposed at any point in the length of the conveyer. The chute 16 is interposed between the conveyer 15 and tank 1 and performs the same office as the chute 5. The elevators 17 and 18 are oppositely disposed, and their lower ends dip into the solution contained in the tank 1, whereas their upper ends overlap. A curved guard 22 is arranged at the upper converged ends of the elevators and insures reception of the bundles 20 from the elevator 17 upon the arms of the elevator 18. The elevators 17 and 18 may be of any height and are upwardly converged, so as to insure transfer of the bundles from the up side of the elevator 17 to the down side of the elevator 18. This construction is necessary in order to insure a thorough draining of the bundles and to prevent unnecessary waste of the solution. A stripper 23, corresponding to the stripper 12, detaches the bundles from the down side of the elevator 18 and directs them upon a table 2 1, from which they may be removed in any manner.

The conveyer 15, trimming-saws 21, and elevators 17 and 18 may be connected by gearing in any convenient manner, and the bundles of laths or like material are fed to the conveyer 15 in any determinate way and are advanced thereby to the tank and are directed thereto by the chute 16. The combined weight and fall of the bundles is sufficient to immerse them in the solution, after which they are taken up by the'arms 19 of the elevator 17 and are carried upward and transferred to the elevator 18 and moved downward and delivered to the table 2a by way of the stripper 23 in the manner stated.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- 1. Apparatus constructed substantially as set forth for automatically handling lumber, the same comprising a tank for containing a solution, a conveyer for directing the material and feeding the same into the tank, an elevator for lifting the material from the solution in the tank inclined to permit draining of the material, a stripper for detaching and receiving the material from the elevator, and means for receiving the material from the stripper, substantially as specified.

2. In apparatus for handling lumber, the combination of a tank for containing a solution, means for feeding the material to the tank, upwardly-converged elevators provided with arms for engaging with and receiving the material, and a guard arranged at converged ends of the elevators to insure delivery of the material from the up side of one elevator to the down side of the companion elevator, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM A. MARSHALL. [1,. 8.]

Witnesses:

JOHN W. GIBsoN, C. E. BALLARD.

ICC 

